Sell Me or Sway Me

[chodnett]

Hello all!

My family and I have been fortunate enough to visit WDW every year for
the last five years, sometimes more than once a year. It's safe to say
we've become quite the Disney addicts.

We recently became AP holders and have decided to continue yearly
visits to the World for as long as we can.

My question is this, is DVC worth a look? We typically stay Value or
Moderate and stay for a week at a time.

I realize the accommodations we will be staying in with DVC will be
Deluxe, but it still seems like costs pay off or break even to what we
pay now after just a few years of vacations.

If we go the DVC route, it will definitely be through resale.

I've watched all the videos and have definitely been hyped up. I understand all costs (up front, dues, etc.) and feel comfortable buying in. But ultimately, I want to hear from the experts.

Let's hear your pros, cons, dos, don'ts.

Thanks for the input!

 

[ToddyLu]

Read, read, read. Look at and understand all the stickies posted at the top of the DVC forums. Check out DVCNews.com as well. Most of the questions you will have are answered here on a daily basis. We stayed in Values until we purchased DVC. We knew we would be going to WDW yearly so we were comfortable and new what we were purchasing. Granted I am the researcher and DH just follows my lead.

You need to understand UY and how that relates to your travel dates and cancellations. Understand that it WILL change the way you visit Disney. There is definitely a "home" vibe to the villas and it is always a pleasure to return home in the evenings. We loved Pop but AKV is a step above right. You get a fridge, free laundry, views, better pools, covered bus stops, activities in the Community Hall, etc.

Moral of this story is now we have APs and so far have increased our trips to twice a year. I wish I had known about resale when we purchased but Disney made it so easy.

You will want to purchase smaller contracts. So it is better to get 2-100 point contracts than 1-200 point contract. Smaller contracts are easier to sell and you can pass them down to kids.

I learn something new everyday from the DVC Boards.

 

[com_op_2000]

We stayed mostly in moderates before DVC. What we paid for DVC would have equaled about three years of moderates stays. DVC is our 2nd best investment due to the amazing vacations that we have experienced since '93.
We have gone to:
Doral in Miami (Played the Blue Monster)
Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC
RCI exchanges to Ft Myers and Ft Lauderdale
Six DCLs on points
do not discount purchasing direct, unless you know you will not be taking advantage of these other options.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We stayed mostly in moderates before DVC. What we paid for DVC would have equaled about three years of moderates stays. DVC is our 2nd best investment due to the amazing vacations that we have experienced since '93.
We have gone to:
Doral in Miami (Played the Blue Monster)
Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC
RCI exchanges to Ft Myers and Ft Lauderdale
Six DCLs on points
do not discount purchasing direct, unless you know you will not be taking advantage of these other options.

There is no guarantee that DVC will continue to have these options for points. All that is guaranteed is staying at your home resort.

 

[magicaldisney]

DVC has been the best purchase for us. It seems that DVC would work well for you. If you are able to make your vacation plans 7+ months out, from everything you've said, in my opinion DVC would be a good fit for you.

 

[disneynutz]

Owning a DVC interest can save you money when staying at a DVC resort. Disney offers stays elsewhere but at a premium price that they fail to mention.

There are rules and policies that you will need to learn before you buy, and you need to understand that once you buy, Disney knows that they have you. Because of this, they don't seem to take care of the resort rooms as well as they could and you will probably have some problems with MS including possible software issues with your account, on line booking and on line check in.

I still suggest that you buy where you love to stay to guarantee your happiness. It doesn't make sense to me to buy somewhere else hoping to make a change at 7 months that may not happen.

Last year several DVD/DVC executives were fired and we are hoping that the new management team will be a positive change.

Multiple WDW visits exposes you to views behind the curtain, this means that some of the magic may wear off so be prepared.

Bill

 

[sjpvac]

Over the years I have seen benefits go down and costs go up. The first thing we lost were the free tickets that Disney used to supply with each reservation. Then the complimentary valet parking at some resorts, then the reduced price of tickets, but mostly the my main issue is the rise in annual costs which are 2-5% each year. I started paying $686 a year for annual charges when I bought through a resale and am paying over $1400 a year now. Forget the idea of exchanging outside of Disney as there is a tremendous devaluation of your points when you leave DVC resorts. So consider whether it's worth going from paying cash for rmoderate resorts to paying Disney increasing amounts every year (whether you use it or not) for (usually) a better room, but still have to pay for everything else just the same as you would if you continued staying at the moderate resorts. And you will not be eligible for the promos that offer free dining plans when you join DVC.

 

[zavandor]

My question is this, is DVC worth a look? We typically stay Value or
Moderate and stay for a week at a time.

I realize the accommodations we will be staying in with DVC will be
Deluxe, but it still seems like costs pay off or break even to what we
pay now after just a few years of vacations.

When calculating the costs of DVC you have to factor the devaluation of your property and the opportunity cost of your investment.
I did a spreadsheet to make all those calculations and ended to the conclusion that a DVC stay will cost you between the cost of a value and a moderate. So DVC is not about saving money, but to upgrade your accommodation.

Here a little example.

14 days stay in January (lowest season) in SSR will cost 190 points.

I bought a contract at SSR for 50$ a point. So for 190 points it would be 9500$
The contract for SSR will last until 2054, so my 9500$ in 42 years will be worth zero. So I assume that my contract will loose 226$ per year, or 1.20$ per point (*)


Instead of purchasing DVC you might invest your money and earn money from it. I'll consider 3%, you might get a higher rate.
So the first year, your 9500$ might give you 285$, so you loose 285% or 1.5 per point.

Maintenance fees for SSR are 4.73$ per point.

So per point your costs are: 4.73 + 1.5 + 1.20 = 7.43$ per point

You 14 days vacation will cost 190 points, or 1411$


To compare with a value I'll consider a 30% discount on rack rates.
14 days in January in a value will cost you 892$


So if you factor everything in, your vacation will cost you 519$ more.

If you compare to rack rates for a deluxe resort you'll get completely different numbers, of course.

But as you see, DVC is not about getting the best rate, but about getting a better accommodation for your money.




(*) This is the case only if your think to keep your contract for the full duration. At the moment I think that I'll never be burned by Disney and I want to go to WDW every year for the rest of my life, but things instead change over time. Someone on this boards suggests to consider the end of your contract in 10 years. We don't know what will happen to the resale market in 10 years from now: DVC might be valued zero. If you decide to sell your contract in 10 years you might get back much less than you paid, so your cost per point due to devaluation might be higher.

 

[dbs1228]

My situation was we were going to WDW every year for 15 years and paying an average of 300.00 per night staying at the cabins in Ft Wilderness. We stayed for 10 nights on average with a cost somewhere around 45000.00! Every year we would say "next year we will take a year of from WDW" but never did. We finally bought in over 3 years ago direct BLT and added on via resale. If I had to do it again I would go resale for all but at the time the difference in resale vs. direct was about 10.00 PP and I did not know what I do now.

We now stay in much larger accommodations and have had 5 vacations in a 2 bedroom, both DD's have used points for 1 week each in studios and we just returned from 10 nights in the THV. We have 6 nights booked for the GV at BLT over NYE this year - something we never would have done. As far as the cabins go I called to see about maybe staying a few nights there before the GV and they want 525.00 per night plus tax! A 4 night stay would be more then my maintenance fees!

I love our DVC, we do other vacations every year, but I do not ever see using our points for anything but DVC. For us it was a great decision - the right one for our family. Oh btw the reason we decided to book NYE was because we have AP's and have never been during that time of year. The only expense I have to worry about for our 10 night trip is airfare for 5 and our big grocery shop since DD's are each bringing a friend!

 

[dbs1228]

Instead of purchasing DVC you might invest your money and earn money from it. I'll consider 3%, you might get a higher rate.
So the first year, your 9500$ might give you 285$, so you loose 285% or 1.5 per point.

When 1st looking at DVC in 2005 - 2006 I could not justify since we had money invested in different avenues, boy do I wish I used that money for DVC at the time since I ended up losing a portion to the stock market - rather would have had nicer vacations - you just never know, just saying......

 

[crisi]

One of the biggest questions to me is "can you afford the commitment?" Even a resale is going to tie up quite a few dollars. Plus, you are making a commitment to those Disney vacations - park tickets, airfare (if applicable), etc. Even with DVC Disney is not an inexpensive trip.

We saw a lot of people in 2008/2009 who couldn't afford their points and the market for resales dropped. So people were holding points they'd recently bought that they couldn't get what they paid for - or owed on them, and they were in a situation where they really needed the cash for more important things than vacations - like groceries and house payments.

If you have cash on hand to buy the points, a pretty secure job, and a fairly mature financial situation, DVC CAN save you money - but probably won't because you'll likely find your behavior changing as a DVC owner. But it CAN be a good value regardless of if it saves you money or not. If your situation isn't so stable, you can find your ownership a burden rather than a pleasure, like so many timeshare owners.

One thing is certain, buy for what is contracted, not for perks or what you assume is part of the program. Every year people buy and then discover they don't get "free dining." Or a perk is removed that people were dependent on. Today we get Magical Express, maybe tomorrow that program will have a fee, or be done away with all together. Today we can trade via RCI, tomorrow they may announce that they are returning to II.